imtrobin
asked on
Finding font used in a psd file
Hi,
My friend passed me a psd file which gives me an font not found error when I edit on my side. The font he used is a non English font, and he doesn't know which one it is. In photoshop it appears as "By-JOSSQ-DMF-in-Beijing",
I have used those Unicode font viewer programs like X-fonter and FontView to see the fonts installed on his sideThe font names for other asian fonts appears as the same name in both photoshop and the viewers but not this particular font. He has a quite a lot of these Asian fonts and I want to avoid installing/removing each one to hunt for it.
So, how can I get the font file used in a psd file in such a situation. It's not the same name, unlike Arial which appears the same name in photoshop and windows\font folder.
My friend passed me a psd file which gives me an font not found error when I edit on my side. The font he used is a non English font, and he doesn't know which one it is. In photoshop it appears as "By-JOSSQ-DMF-in-Beijing",
I have used those Unicode font viewer programs like X-fonter and FontView to see the fonts installed on his sideThe font names for other asian fonts appears as the same name in both photoshop and the viewers but not this particular font. He has a quite a lot of these Asian fonts and I want to avoid installing/removing each one to hunt for it.
So, how can I get the font file used in a psd file in such a situation. It's not the same name, unlike Arial which appears the same name in photoshop and windows\font folder.
flow79
i know this is a pain - but i would go through c:\Windows\Fonts and simply click on each of them and view the font (on your friend's machine) until he/she finds the name of it. That would be the simplest (but possibly time consuming) solution. Obviously he/she can skip any font he/she already knows, such as Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, Courier, Courier New, Times, Times New Roman, etc.
ASKER
That can't be done because the file displays the asia name or square blocks when installed into windows\font folder.
If I have to brute force search, I have to install each font one at a time and see if photoshop displays that name.
I can't understand why photoshop doesn't have such a functionality to export the font with the psd.
If I have to brute force search, I have to install each font one at a time and see if photoshop displays that name.
I can't understand why photoshop doesn't have such a functionality to export the font with the psd.
i am not a guru with PS, but I have never heard of it doing that. I think your best bet is for your friend to send you every font he/she has that is questionable, and install them into PS. Then you can quickly view them and see which is the correct one.
ASKER
that's what I'm trying to avoid. He has a *lots* of fonts installed :( Also, this solution would be useful in the future should I get an "font not installed" error with PS.
i understand - believe me, i wish I knew of a solution which would auto-find what font was used - but i dont think there is one. While you wait for other responses from other experts, it might be a good idea to start sifting through the available fonts, because I dont think there is an automated solution to this issue
ASKER
yes, I was hoping to get a reusable solution as I have come across this irritating "font not found" in ps in the past before. But this is the last straw because the font names don't match.
I'm hoping there's a font tool or something which I do not know about. I don't urgently need to edit the picture and I have better use for my time than to do brute force search. I have wasted lots of time on hunting fonts in PS, and I hope this is the final time.
I'm hoping there's a font tool or something which I do not know about. I don't urgently need to edit the picture and I have better use for my time than to do brute force search. I have wasted lots of time on hunting fonts in PS, and I hope this is the final time.
Is it really that hard for your friend to find the font they used? All they have to do is open the file in PS, select the type, and the font name should appear in the options palette as if they were typing with that font.
ASKER
The font name in PS appears as "By-JOSSQ-DMF-in-Beijing",
It's not an easy 500 points :)
It's not an easy 500 points :)
Well, photoshop doesnt collect fonts, and someone mis-named the font file to make it extra difficult for you.
Do you actually have to be able to edit the type or can your friend rasterize the font layer and make this an irrelevant quest?
Do you actually have to be able to edit the type or can your friend rasterize the font layer and make this an irrelevant quest?
ASKER
Yes, I want to edit.
Then I think youre going to be stuck manually searching for that font on his machine. Could start by grabbing a basic font viewer/organizer like ATM Deluxe and looking for a similar appearance font. Narrow it down that way.
Go look the fonts here: http://www.fonts.com
Hi imtrobin:
If your friend doesn't know which font he used so I think you better ask him to give you all the fonts from his computer under C:\WINNT\Fonts (if you use windows xp) otherwise check the windows\fonts\ folder.
Then you copy those fonts in the same folder to your computer. Although it looks I am giving you a suggestion which looks stupid, but in my opinion this is the easiest way to solve your problem rather than searching the font blindly here and there.
rsdn
If your friend doesn't know which font he used so I think you better ask him to give you all the fonts from his computer under C:\WINNT\Fonts (if you use windows xp) otherwise check the windows\fonts\ folder.
Then you copy those fonts in the same folder to your computer. Although it looks I am giving you a suggestion which looks stupid, but in my opinion this is the easiest way to solve your problem rather than searching the font blindly here and there.
rsdn
ASKER
I would like to find the font because I want to backup the font with the psd file so I can edit it again in the future.
There are a few hundred font installed, so for every psd file means I have to backup a additional few hundered MBs. I would to find a long term solution. Frankly, I think this is a problem with PS psd format, and they should have a means to backup the font in the psd.
There are a few hundred font installed, so for every psd file means I have to backup a additional few hundered MBs. I would to find a long term solution. Frankly, I think this is a problem with PS psd format, and they should have a means to backup the font in the psd.
Hi imtrobin:
If the font is not chinese then may be it is possible to search from free fonts sites. But in your case the font is chinese and your friend even don't know the font name. On the otherhand, even if you buy any .psd templates from any sites, they always provide the font with the template. Otherwise when someone open the .psd fine in photoshop, they will face the same problem like you are facing. So until you get the font from your friend or somewhere and install in the computer, it is quite tough to get or retrieve the font from .psd file. May be some experts know or some tool exists. But I never see this type of tool, may be you can wait for fews days for others comment.
rsdn
If the font is not chinese then may be it is possible to search from free fonts sites. But in your case the font is chinese and your friend even don't know the font name. On the otherhand, even if you buy any .psd templates from any sites, they always provide the font with the template. Otherwise when someone open the .psd fine in photoshop, they will face the same problem like you are facing. So until you get the font from your friend or somewhere and install in the computer, it is quite tough to get or retrieve the font from .psd file. May be some experts know or some tool exists. But I never see this type of tool, may be you can wait for fews days for others comment.
rsdn
They cant and wont because it has the potential to be a copyright issue. The long term solution is to name your font files the same as their displayed name though I cant say I've ever, even when working as a typesetter, seen a font file named something dramatically different than its displayed name.
ASKER
I'm not sure where he got the font from, probably some free download. We are not very familiar with unicode fonts with english windows systems, that's why we never noted the font name.
At of course, we didn't expect the font name to be different, even when viewed under unicode font viewers. If there is no other way, I would guess then it's a brute force attack!
At of course, we didn't expect the font name to be different, even when viewed under unicode font viewers. If there is no other way, I would guess then it's a brute force attack!
Can't you just send the PSD file back to your friend, then when he opens it on his PC he can see the name of the missing font, and send it back to you.
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ASKER
My friend tried Adobe Type Manager. It didn't displayed much info about the font, I think those free font viewers displayed more info :(
I guess I really need a miracle here
I guess I really need a miracle here
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ASKER
To elsabartley:
It's a nice tool, but unforunately that didn't work.
To will_scarlet7:
Innovative. I manage to round it down to 19 fonts with the words "DSSOQ" in them. Now the weird thing.
I installed those font in my computer, but it didn't show up it photoshop. So after looking around on the net for solutions, I came to the conclusion to remove all instances of adobefnt.lst. But it still didn't show up.
I told my friend to remove all instances of adobefnt.lst too. So he uninstalled the font, deleted the lst files, reinstalled back, and he LOST the font in PS too.
I installed those font on another pc, the font appeared in PS. When I uninstalled the fonts, the font disappeared. So it should be those fonts. I will keep trying and update here.
It's a nice tool, but unforunately that didn't work.
To will_scarlet7:
Innovative. I manage to round it down to 19 fonts with the words "DSSOQ" in them. Now the weird thing.
I installed those font in my computer, but it didn't show up it photoshop. So after looking around on the net for solutions, I came to the conclusion to remove all instances of adobefnt.lst. But it still didn't show up.
I told my friend to remove all instances of adobefnt.lst too. So he uninstalled the font, deleted the lst files, reinstalled back, and he LOST the font in PS too.
I installed those font on another pc, the font appeared in PS. When I uninstalled the fonts, the font disappeared. So it should be those fonts. I will keep trying and update here.
ASKER
Report on the issue.
I tried the fonts on another friend's win2k system. The fonts appear fine when installed, and disappear when uninstall.
The weird problem described above that the font doesn't appear correctly in PS only happens Winxp SP1 system, which my friend and me were using.
I will spilt 50 points to elsabartley for recommending this cool app, and 20 points each to weed and flow79, and the rest to will_scarlet7. Hope that makes everyone happy.
I tried the fonts on another friend's win2k system. The fonts appear fine when installed, and disappear when uninstall.
The weird problem described above that the font doesn't appear correctly in PS only happens Winxp SP1 system, which my friend and me were using.
I will spilt 50 points to elsabartley for recommending this cool app, and 20 points each to weed and flow79, and the rest to will_scarlet7. Hope that makes everyone happy.
Glad to be a help!
God bless!
God bless!